Sony announced today that it has opened a new China Strategy Department in the Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Asia division.

According to the press release, which was published in Japanese on the website of SCE Japan Asia, the new department will be led by Sony executive Takehito Soeda. Soeda has previously served as Sony's corporate communications manager in China, and his appointment to lead the newly-opened department suggests that Sony is interested in putting some official muscle behind pushing the PlayStation brand in China.

While game consoles have been available for purchase on the Chinese gray market for years, they were officially banned from being sold in the country until this year, when China's State Council formally lifted the ban.

China's Ministry of Culture is currently in the process of figuring out how -- or if -- it will allow consoles manufactured in the Shanghai free-trade zone to be sold in the country, and it appears that Sony is devoting resources to figuring out how to take advantage of that allowance.

Gamasutra has reached out to Sony representatives for further comment on the news.